Be Made of Salt And
by prophet144
Summary: This story is AU and gives Dean and Sam a middle brother. Tommy might be in the middle when it comes to age, but he just might pass them all when it comes to hunting abilities. This is the second story in the May the Circle arc.
1. Chapter 1

Be Made of Salt And...

Tommy rolled his eyes at his oldest brother. "You know, I sometimes seriously question if you are related to Sam and I." He pointed to an article beneath the red-headed young woman. "She's dead Dean. Apparently ripped to shreds by something the authorities are calling a 'possible wild animal or rabid dog'. Scares me sometimes what people are willing to believe instead of seeing what is right in front of their face."

Dean snorted. "Yeah well, some people believe it's better to be oblivious than to get involved." He frowned. "She looks familiar." He walked over to his duffle and pulled out their dad's journal. After the first time Tommy had linked with Sam, he'd made it a point to keep the pictures that had been drawn that night. "Damn." He held one of the drawings out for both of them to see. "I knew that I had seen her somewhere before."

Sam sighed. "We probably should have tried to find her."

"We didn't get the chance to Sam, remember?" Tommy stated. "Considering that I spent the next week and a half in the hospital because of being stubborn. So don't go blaming yourself for this. If you had one vision about it, if we start for--" He re-read the name of the town. "Mission Falls, Washington it might help. Either way, I think we should look into it." He looked at his oldest brother, who nodded.

"I agree." Dean said, putting the journal back up. "And the sooner we get going the better."

Two hours later found them almost a hundred miles from where they had started in Montana. Tommy was stretched out asleep in the back sleep. Well, as stretched out as his 6'2" frame would allow him to be. Like Sam, he had shot past his oldest brother, but like Dean, he remained shorter than his youngest. Figures he'd have to be in the middle height wise as well. Sam was in the front seat with Dean, reading over some stuff they'd printed out at the library before they'd left.

"From what I've read, it could either be a black dog or a hellhound. Nothing else really fits with what's being said." Sam stacked the papers together again and set them between him and Dean.

"Well, either way, we know how to take care of it." Dean glanced in the rear view mirror, checking on his younger brother. He still worried that Tommy might not be entirely ready for another hunt just yet, but he knew that both of his brothers would be at his side during the upcoming fight.

"He's not going to disappear Dean." Sam had caught his oldest brother checking on their other brother several times since they started towards Washington. "If you keep looking at him though, he's liable to wake up just from you staring."

Dean snorted. "I can't help it. Might have been over three weeks since he found us, but it still feels like yesterday. Keep wondering if this is all a dream and I'm going to wake up with you driving us to get rid of the poltergeist back in Lewiston."

"I know what you mean, but what happened that night in the hotel and again today is more than enough to convince me that he really is here with us again." Sam rubbed at his eyes for a moment, catching Dean's frown. "I'm okay. Just a little tired."

"Why don't you try and get some sleep? I'm okay driving for another few hours at least and once it starts getting dark, we'll be stopping anyway."

"You sure?"

"Yeah, I'm sure. There should be another blanket back there with Tommy."

Sam turned and started to reach for the spare blanket when he got a good look at his older brother. He was sweating heavily and breathing in short, quiet pants. "Dean! Pull over!"

He didn't hesitate at pulling the Impala to the side of the road and coming to a stop. Something in Sam's voice had him reacting almost instantly.

Sam was out of the car and at the back door as soon as Dean stopped. He hesitated only a moment before reaching out to shake his brother's shoulder. As soon as he made contact with Tommy, he started seeing what his brother was dreaming.

_Tommy glanced around the clearing. He knew that his dad was no more than 20 feet away, but that didn't stop him from feeling like he was alone. The urge to check his weapon again was pressed down by years of training not to give into such things. Pain was the next thing he knew as something landed on his back and forced him to the ground. Blackness threatened to engulf him and he called out to the one person who could help him. Only, instead of calling out vocally like he had thought, Tommy mentally sought out his father with his urgent plea for help._

_John Winchester was a man that few things surprised anymore. The sound of his middle son's voice in his head, as if Tommy were right next to him speaking and calling, no begging, for his help, almost sent him to his knees. Only the fact that one of his sons was in trouble kept him on his feet and sent him moving towards the last place he'd seen Tommy. Several minutes and two shots later, he was kneeling next to his son, who had several scratches on his back from the hellhound and was unconscious. He didn't let himself think about how he'd come to find in his son. For the moment, all he cared about was making sure that the boy was okay and his wounds tended. The rest he'd deal with later, but one thing was very clear. Tommy, his son, his own flesh and blood, was capable of doing things that were strongly related to the dark side of things. The very things he hunted and taught all of his sons to hunt as well. There was no question in his mind that the boy would have to leave and the only person he knew to trust with something this important was Pastor Jim._

Dean frowned as Sam gasped and sat back a bit, then watched as Tommy settled slightly and seem to drift back off into a deeper sleep. "What the hell happened Sam?"

Sam looked up at his oldest brother, tears standing unshed in his eyes. "I saw what happened that night Dean. The one before dad sent Tommy away."

He wasn't sure if his knees gave way or if he knelt next to Sam on his own, but Dean could really have cared less at the moment. "Sweet Jesus." Dean was rarely at a loss of what to do or say, but the knowledge of what had caused his dad to send his brother away was enough to jerk the world out from under him. Slowly, he met Sam's eyes. "Tell me."


	2. Chapter 2

Be Made of Salt And... Chp 2

Sam took a deep breath and nodded before speaking. "We were hunting a hellhound. Dad and Tommy had gone one way with us going another. For some reason, Dad and Tommy had split up. Not by a lot, about 20 feet or so, and still within shouting distance. Tommy got jumped from behind by the hellhound and called out to dad for help, but he did it mentally."

Dean frowned. "That's why dad sent him away? Because Tommy was in trouble and used his ability to get help?" He shook his head.

"Think about it Dean. Dad probably saw it as something too close to the dark side of things. We both know that if I had still been at home when my visions started, he would have sent me away as well. It just happened to Tommy first."

"Maybe, but it still pisses me off that dad refused to talk about it after the fact." Dean sighed and stood up. "Come on. Let's get back on the road. Think we can all use a bit of a break after this." He looked over at his middle brother. "Something tells me that we're going to need some of the information from his journals and going over it in the car is not something I want to do, especially after what he said when we told him what Pastor Jim said."

Sam nodded and re-adjusted the blanket over his older brother before re-joining Dean in the front of the Impala. "We should probably stop and get something to eat while we're at it. I get the feeling it's going to be a long night."

Three hours later, Tommy woke up and found himself in another hotel room. He sat up a bit and frowned at Sam, who was on the laptop. "Where are we?"

"Missoula. Dean figured after the dream you had, we should probably stop a bit earlier."

He sighed and shook his head. "Guess talking about my journals and Pastor Jim kinda triggered the dream." There was no since trying to deny or avoid the fact that he knew exactly what dream Sam was talking about. Only one thing would have made Dean even think about stopping early while going to a possible hunt: the reason behind John sending him away. "I take it you saw what I was dreaming about."

"Yeah. I reached out to try and wake you up, grabbed your shoulder and saw it. I'm sorry dad sent you away for it."

"Not your fault Sam. I never blamed or was ever made at you or Dean for what happened. I knew that dad would never tell you what was going on or why he had sent me away, but I wasn't ready to tell anyone either. Not when I first started writing to you after I had left."

"And later? Why not tell me then?"

"Because Dean told me about the fights you were having with dad and I didn't want to be fuel for the fire. It also wasn't something I was comfortable talking about Sam. For almost two years, I fought Pastor Jim at every step with what he was trying to teach me. If the man didn't have the patience of a saint, he would have kicked me out after the first 3 months."

"Is that why you don't want to review your journals?" This came from Dean, who had returned with dinner for all of them and some stuff for the road the next day. "Or at least part of it?"

Tommy shook his head. "Not really. I mainly don't want to do it because there's a lot of crap that happened when Pastor Jim finally got me to at least start cooperating with him, after about 5 months, that I would rather forget. He knows that too, but there is also a lot of information that we discovered in those first few months that became invaluable later on. Just looking over it brings back a lot of memories that I'd rather forget."

"Like what?" Sam asked, getting up to sit next to his brother on the bed.

He sighed. "Like being able to read what was going on in a grieving mother's mind. Hearing her blame herself for her daughter dying even though it really wasn't her fault and she was hundreds of miles away at the time. Like dad showing up one day and blaming me for him becoming distant with Sam and being able to read it in his head that he believed I was evil." As he talked, his breathing started growing harsh.

The one thing that Bryan hadn't told his brothers, and that he himself had kept from them was the fact that he had developed asthma. It was a complication that came about from the car accident with the deer. His left lung had been punctured and collapsed. As a result of being on the ventilator too long and an infection in an incision in his chest, he'd developed pneumonia. Altogether, everything added up to him now suffering from what the doctors called non-allergic asthma.

Dean frowned when he heard the change in his brother's breathing. "Tommy? You okay?"

There wasn't an answer from the middle brother as he started trying to remove his inhaler from his pocket. It took a few moments, allowing the pressure in his chest to increase and the wheezing to become audible. When he finally had it out, he was drained and didn't have the energy left to use it.

Sam stepped up and took the inhaler from his older brother and helped him take the first dose from it. By then, Dean had grabbed their first aid kit and removed something from it. When Sam looked over at him, he recognized it as an epipen. "When did you get that?"

"Lifted it from a hospital about a year ago. Figured it couldn't hurt to have one, just in case." As he spoke, Dean removed the device from its protective case. "And since epinephrine is a form of adrenaline, I know that it'll help his lungs open up a bit and that inhaler to work better." He pressed the pen to Tommy's left thigh and then triggered the dose, holding it until he was sure the dose had been fully delivered.

Tommy winced as Dean pressed the device into his thigh, but forced himself to relax. It took a few minutes before both meds really began to work, but he found his breathing started to become easier. He sighed once he was able to breath somewhat normally and looked up at his two brothers. "Okay, so I have asthma, too."

"You should have told us bucko." Dean stated, helping his brother to lay back on the bed.

"Probably." He closed his eyes for a moment and opened them to find Sam now standing above him, a bottle of water in his hand.

"Here, drink some of this then get some rest. We'll have something for you to eat when you wake up."

A roll of his eyes accompanied him taking the bottle from his younger brother. "Don't let me sleep more than a couple of hours."

"Why don't we just see how long your body says you need to sleep, huh?" This came from Dean, who was standing at the foot of the bed, his arms crossed over his chest.

"Fine." Tommy took a few sips of the water, then set the bottle aside before closing his eyes and drifting off to sleep again.

Both of his brothers watched him for a few minutes before either one of them spoke. Sam was the first to break the silence.

"You know, sometimes I wonder exactly who he picked up hiding information from, dad or Pastor Jim."

Dean snorted. "That's a no brainer. Dad wins that one, hands down." He looked at his youngest brother. "We all learned that from dad to some degree." He walked back over to the table and took a seat, joined a few minutes later by Sam as they went back to work on their research of the new job.


	3. Chapter 3

Be Made of Salt And... chp 3

Tommy woke up almost 4 hours later to find Dean at the computer and Sam asleep on the other bed. He sat up slowly and then got to his feet, making his way to the bathroom without a word to his oldest brother. When he reappeared minutes later, he just shook his head. "Okay, so I should have told you about the asthma, but no more epi. Crap gives me a headache." He took a seat across from Dean.

Dean raised an eyebrow at him. "Is that so?" He sat back in his chair. "Too fucking bad because if I think you need it, I'll give it to you." He held up a hand when it looked like Tommy was going to protest. "I talked to Bryan and he said that it was probably a good thing that I did it, so don't be expecting me to listen to you about that for a while."

A shake of his head was Tommy's response to that before taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly. "There was a black duffle in Caleb's truck, has my journals in it."

"Sam brought it in earlier. It's sitting on the other chair over there. Before you start on those, however, you need to eat." He got up and woke Sam. "Come on, sleeping beauty's up and it's time to eat."

Sam snorted. "About frickin time." He stood up and tossed Tommy his jacket before he put his own on. "There's a diner down the street. And considering that Dean ate your dinner that he'd brought back earlier along with his own, I figure something hot is in order."

Tommy nodded. "I could do with getting out of here for a bit."

"You feel up to it?" This came from Dean, who was watching him worriedly.

"I'm good Dean. My leg's a bit sore from you sticking me, but I'm okay otherwise. Besides, walking a bit will help me loosen up. Then you two can tell me what all you've found out about our newest job."

"You best watch it buster, I'm still the oldest." Dean ruffled his middle brother's hair.

"And the one closest to being senile." This came from Sam, which was quickly followed by a scramble for the door, led by the two youngest.

Two hours later, they were all back in the hotel room. Sam was currently in the shower. Tommy and Dean had already gotten theirs, using the older brother rule to get ahead of the youngest.

Tommy handed Dean a cup of coffee, fresh from the standard motel room coffee pot. "Can't vouch for how good it is, but at least it's hot." He took a seat across from his oldest brother. "So this woman, Grace Hutchins, was killed by, more than likely, a hellhound. It wouldn't be the first one we've faced."

"Maybe not, but I get the feeling that this one is a bit different."

"How so?"

"Well, for starters, she was attacked in the daytime and from past experiences, we know that they primarily attack at night."

"Could have been wounded." This came from Sam, who had finally exited the bathroom, a towel wrapped around his middle since he forgot, as usual, to take clean clothes in with him.

"Maybe, but that still doesn't mean it has to be a hellhound."

"What else could it be then? Because none of the black dogs I've ever hunted have gone after something that far from a road." Tommy stated, handing Sam the last cup of coffee from the pot, but only after his brother had gotten dressed.

"Beats me, but I definitely think that we should do some more investigating when we get there before we set out after this thing."

Sam nodded. "Going to have to agree with you on that one Dean."

Tommy snorted. "Believe me, I have no intention of going after anything until I know what the hell it is and how to kill it."

Dean winked at Sam. "See, smart brother. Learned from the best."

Without a word to each other, Tommy and Sam tackled Dean, quickly letting him know that they still knew where he was ticklish at and that it was a bad thing to mess with both of his younger brothers at the same time.


	4. Chapter 4

Be Made of Salt And... chp 4

They finally made it to Mission Falls in the late afternoon. Tommy was at the wheel of the Impala when he pulled up outside a diner on the outskirts of the small town. Once the car was stopped, he climbed out and stretched, looking over the top at his youngest brother and grinned. It had been a brief, but fruitful tussle that had led to him and Sam being in the front seat the last hundred miles, with Dean pouting in the back.

Dean got out and glared at his middle brother first, then his youngest. "You two are so dead." He shook his head and started for the diner, followed by his two laughing brothers. It sucked when a big brother could no longer scare his little brothers into doing something.

The food at the diner had been typical: greasy, but filling. They all had ordered cheeseburgers and fries with only their drink choices differing. Once they had eaten, the talk turned once again to the job.

Now, they were in the only room left in the last hotel in town. Considering there were three hotels total, they were lucky to even get the one room. The manager had dropped off a rollaway bed for one of them to sleep on without charging them extra for it.

Once again Dean had drawn the short straw, literally, and had ended up on the rollaway. He stretched out on it as they started talking about what they had found out by talking to some of the locals at the diner.

"So Grace wasn't the first victim, they all occurred during the early mornings and were about a month apart." Sam stated, laying out their notes.

"You know," Tommy began, stripping down to just his jeans. "If I didn't know better, I'd say this was a werewolf."

"Except that the killings aren't occurring during prime hunting hours." This came from Dean as he shucked his boots.

"That's why I said if I didn't know any better." He threw a pillow at his oldest brother.

"And the killings aren't anywhere near the time of the full moon." Sam had gone ahead and looked up the moon phases, just to help rule out one more thing.

Tommy suddenly sat up. "Sam, how far were all the murders from graveyards?"

Dean frowned at his middle brother. "You thinking a black dog?"

"It makes sense, especially since we've kind of determined that it couldn't be a hellhound just because of its behavior patterns."

"Bingo. All the murders happened within a mile from the main graveyard in town."

A maniacal grin spread over both Tommy and Dean's faces, leaving Sam with the feeling that they were going to be in for an interesting ride.

The next morning found the brothers stopping at another diner for breakfast before going to do a little recon of the area in which the murders had taken place.

The waitress grinned at the three of them, but made eye contact with Dean, who immediately plastered his best shit-eating grin in place. "Table for 3" He paused to read her name tag. "Please Kim."

She blushed slightly. "Follow me."

Dean grinned. "You don't have to ask me twice."

Sam and Tommy followed, shaking their heads at Dean's flirting. Once they were seated and Kim had taken off with their drink orders, Dean found himself face to face with his two less than pleased younger brothers. "What?"

"Do you have to flirt with everything in a skirt?" This came from Tommy, who was still a bit tired after their 'brief' planning session ended with Sam falling asleep on the laptop and Tommy falling out of the chair around 4 am.

"Well, yeah."

"At least wait until we've eaten. That way I've got something to throw up in my stomach." Sam shook his head as he watched Dean just grin.

"Now where would the fun be in that?"

Both of the younger boys groaned in unison, knowing that it was going to be a long, long day.


	5. Chapter 5

Be Made of Salt And... chp 5

The main graveyard in Mission Falls turned out to be the only graveyard in town. A trip to the local library had even given them a map of the local area, which they quickly used to plot all of the murders. Now, they were slowly driving around to the different murder sites, trying to get an idea of where the 'killer' had attacked from in each of the areas.

Tommy frowned. "This one doesn't make any sense." They were at the site of the first murder, but unlike the others, there were no trees around for the creature to make a leap from. "I mean, there's no cover for it to attack from."

Sam nodded. "Unless the person just died here and was actually attacked somewhere else."

"It's possible," Dean stated. "Let's look around a bit more, see if we can find anything."

Fifteen minutes later, Tommy called to his two brothers. Once they joined him, he pointed to the spot where the first victim was obviously attacked. Like all the others, it was in a somewhat wooded area, giving the creature plenty of places to attack from.

They made their way back to the hotel, stopping to pick up food from a Wendy's on the way. As they ate in their room, they talked about what they had found out.

"Well, it's definitely a black dog. The pattern and kill sites prove that. Now all we have to do is figure out when the next attack is going to be." Tommy finished eating and settled back on the bed.

"The last murder happened about 3 days ago. Before that, they were happening about every 4-5 days. So probably tomorrow or the next day." This came from Sam, who was checking things on the laptop as he ate.

"That gives us until early in the morning or early the next morning to come up with a plan on how to get rid of this thing." Dean stated, tossing his wrapper into the trash from his spot on the rollaway bed.

Sam snorted. "Would help if we knew where the lair was. Then we could lay a trap for it before we finish it off."

"Maybe, or we might just drive it into hiding." Tommy said, stretching before he wrote down 3 numbers and stuck them in a hat and held them out to his other brothers. "Lowest number gets the shower first, 2nd lowest second and highest goes last."

Dean cocked an eyebrow. "Who put you in charge?"

Tommy grinned. "No one, but I want a shot at some hot water for a change instead of lukewarm or barely above chilled."

Sam busted out laughing at the look on Dean's face, but couldn't help feeling that his family really was together again. Now, if they could only find their dad and get things worked out with him. First though, they had to get past showers tonight and the black dog tomorrow. After that, they would have time to work on finding their dad and go from there.


	6. Chapter 6

Be Made of Salt And... chp 6

Tommy pushed his rain-soaked hair off his face and glared from where he knelt in the direction of his oldest brother.

Dean could feel himself being watched and turned towards his middle brother, who was closest to him in th e clearing. He met his brother's angry stare and shrugged.

"What?"

"If Sam or I get sick because of this, you get to take care of us."

Sam snorted from his position across the clearing, trying not to laugh out loud at his brothers, especially at the look he knew Dean was giving Tommy.

Dean just shook his head, but before he could say anything the creature they were waiting for made its appearance.

All of them had seen Black Dogs before, but this one topped them all in size. It could easily have been mistaken for a large wolf or even a small bear. It paused in the clearing, sniffing the air around it before letting out a mournful howl. Without warning, it launched itself towards Sam's hiding spot.

Sam watched the thing come towards him and waited just an extra second before rolling out of the way of its razor sharp claws. He didn't even get a chance to fire at it before a shot rang out from across the clearing, felling the animal as it prepared to leap once again towards him, claws outstretched. After doing a quick check to make sure he was okay, Sam got to his feet and finally noticed that neither of his brothers had come over to check on him. Frowning, he made his way across the clearing only to pull up short at what he saw.

For all of his abilities, Tommy had forgotten one thing: neither one of his brothers had been on a hunt with him in over eight years. So when he suddenly found himself looking up at a worried looking Dean, it took him a moment to figure out why. He wiped at the blood coming from his nose and shook his head as Sam rejoined them. It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that he'd managed to kill t he beast, especially considering that Dean had been next to him almost as quick as he'd heard the report of the gun that he still held in his hand.

"I'm okay Dean. This is almost normal for me now."

"Yeah well, it still requires some explaining on your part." Dean handed him a handkerchief.

"I'll explain back at the hotel, after we finish salting and burning this thing."

"He's right Dean, and the quicker we get it done, the sooner we all can get out of here." This came from Sam, who was just as worried as Dean about the blood that flowed from their brother's nose.

Dean rolled his eyes, but walked over to the creature. He nudged it with his foot before salting it heavily, adding some lighter fluid and setting it ablaze.

While Dean did that, Sam knelt next to Tommy.

"You can tell what they're going to do, can't you?"

Tommy sighed a bit before nodding. "Yeah, I can. It's part of the reason that I get the nosebleeds and headaches. Sometimes they're worse than others, especially if the fight is long or it takes me several tries to get a clean shot. Poltergeists are easier because I can't really read them. I can still sense what they're going to do, however, before they actually do it. Well, at least most of the time. Still working on that one a bit."

Sam frowned as he helped him slowly to his feet, steadying Tommy as he swayed a bit before finding his balance again. "What headaches?" He suffered from migraines himself, but mostly only after a particularly bad vision.

Dean came up to them as Sam was asking his question and sighed.

"Yeah, kinda forget to tell you that one Sam. Bryan let me know that our brother here gets migraines along with the asthma. Told me that the other day on the phone."

"Figures." Sam shook his head as they made their way back to the Impala. Once there, he swatted Dean in the back of the head.

Dean frowned and glared at his youngest brother. "What the hell was that for?"

"Because you forgot to tell me something important about our brother."

"So you hit me?"

"Better than some other things I could have done."

"Oh yeah?"

Tommy watched them for a moment, feeling like a spectator at a tennis match, then busted out laughing. His brothers turned to look at him.

"Something funny?" Dean asked, wondering what had gotten into his younger siblings recently.

"Considering that you're supposed to be the oldest, it's kinda funny to watch you act like a 2 year old with our youngest brother."

Sam smirked at the remark, then started laughing as well.

Dean just shook his head and climbed behind the wheel, muttering to himself about not remembering having dropped either one of them on their heads growing up. Or did he?


	7. Chapter 7

Be Made of Salt And... chp 7

Thanks for the reviews. Please keep them coming. Sorry for the long delay in getting chapter 6 up, but I was at camp where we didn't have a lot of computer access and I moved to Tennessee. I'm all set up now, so this story is almost over and I've already started work on the next one in this series. If you put all the titles together, you might get a good laugh.

The next morning, Tommy snuck out before the sun had really risen and gone for a long walk. He wasn't into running, unless something was chasing him. Swimming was another matter though and whenever he had the chance he scouted out the local pool and did a few laps. It was a way for him to relax and put things together.

In Mission Falls, the only pool was at the local high school and it was four miles from their hotel. It hadn't occurred to him to leave a note until he was at the pool. He shrugged and dove in, letting the water settle around him as his six foot two frame knifed through the water with swift, sure strokes. His brown hair that was kept slightly longer than Dean's was plastered to his head as he did a flip turn at the other end of the pool. At times like this, his eyes became more green than hazel, allowing him to look more like Sam and their mom than their father. Tommy settled into his stroke and allowed everything else to fade into the background.

"God dammit! Where the hell could he have gone?" Dean practically shouted, pulling on his jeans as he waited for Sam to come up with some kind of answer.

"I don't know Dean. I was asleep, just like you, remember?" Sam really hated it when Dean would look to him for answers that he thought Sam should know just because he and Tommy could connect with each other.

Dean sighed and ran a hand through his short, somewhat spiky hair before taking a seat on the bed.

"Okay. He didn't run off because all of his stuff is still here and the Impala is still in the lot."

Sam nodded. "If he was going anywhere far, he would have taken the car." Tommy was the only one of the two younger brothers that had the nerve to take off in the car without Dean's permission.

"So where the hell would he go?"

Silence stood out thick in the room for several minutes before Sam groaned.

"I'm such an idiot." He got to his feet. "Where did he always go when he had gotten into an argument with dad or something was bothering him?"

Dean grinned. "The pool."

They wasted no time in leaving the hotel to locate the nearest pool that was open to the public.

Tommy had been swimming laps for almost an hour. Somewhat surprising since he hadn't really been keeping up with it over the past few months. When he paused to grab his towel without raising his head and grabbed a shoe instead, he knew that he was in for it. With a sigh he pulled himself out of the water to sit on the edge of the pool.

"Took you long enough." He grabbed the towel that had been thrown at him and started drying off.

"Yeah well, we had to get over wanting to kick your ass across the country and back first." Dean shook his head. "What the hell were you thinking? Oh wait, you weren't thinking."

"Dean's right Tommy. You should have at least left us a note."

He sighed. "I didn't even think about a note until I got here to the pool. And I don't my cell with me, so I calling was out of the question as well." He climbed slowly to his feet. "Look, all I can promise is that I'll leave a note next time, okay?"

Dean snorted. "You don't, and I'm kicking your ass to Pastor Jim's and back twice over." He shook his head. "Swimming?"

Tommy grinned. "I don't run unless I'm being chased."

"I can think of a few other times you've ran." Sam remarked, grinning as Tommy slid his jeans on over his trunks and grabbed his shirt as they started walking out to the Impala.

"Oh really?" He raised an eyebrow at his youngest brother, then grinned at the pair of girls that headed in to use the pool.

Dean laughed softly. "My boy did learn something from me after all."

Tommy snorted. "Yeah, not to use cheap lines on a girl that might have a right hook."

It was Sam's turn to raise an eyebrow at his brother. "Something I'm missing here?"

"Only if Tommy wants to walk back to the motel." This came from Dean, who had already climbed into the Impala.

"Ask me later Sam." Tommy climbed into the back seat. "By the way, I was doing some research on the net last night. Think I might have found us a new job."

"Oh? What this time?" Sam asked, his attention temporarily drawn away from tormenting their oldest brother.

"If I'm reading things right, it's a Wendigo."

Dean started them back to the motel. "A Wendigo huh? Could be interesting."

Sam snorted. "And with you saying that, things are going to be harder than they should be."

Dean just grinned and turned up the radio a bit more, AC/DC's "Hell's Bells" blaring through the speakers. "Don't you know it."

Fini

See the next story in the arc: Be Blessed With Holy Water


End file.
